As any long-time reader of The Tech Report or any other PC hardware site knows, we are largely dependent on manufacturers for access to review hardware. Usually, this process is straightforward. We attend a manufacturer event, agree to any embargoes, get briefed, and return home with review hardware or have it shipped to us shortly thereafter. We then write a piece for the launch-day embargo lift. Everybody is happy.

In what has been one of the most relentless series of hardware launches in years, we have consistently held our side of the bargain with AMD’s Ryzen 7, Ryzen 5, and Ryzen 3 parts. This isn’t special treatment, either. Intel and Nvidia have both entrusted me with their most visible and highest-performing products of 2017 for review, and they’ve gotten nothing but fair shakes for their trouble.

If you haven’t been following, AMD took home an exceedingly rare TR Editor’s Choice award for its Ryzen 5 1600 and Ryzen 5 1600X, and I’ve praised the value of the entire Ryzen stack in my reviews. I’ve specifically learned how to use the time-consuming and difficult-to-run DAWBench tests to exercise our many-core CPU test subjects, a benchmark that AMD itself is now recommending other reviewers include in their CPU coverage. I also can’t think of any higher compliment to pay Ryzen CPUs than their spots as the primary high-end and mid-range processor picks in our System Guide.

All that said, we do not seem to have gotten on the first-run sample list for the recently-announced Ryzen Threadripper CPUs. As a result, I have a lovely Gigabyte X399 Aorus Gaming 7 motherboard sitting forlorn on my test bench. I have an exquisite G.Skill DDR4-3600 32GB RAM kit ready to go in that same motherboard. We have an ample supply of Asetek-manufactured coolers just waiting to be mated with the Threadripper-specific mounting ring that comes in those CPUs’ retail packaging. We have high-performance graphics cards and storage raring to go. All we’re missing is the CPUs themselves.

AMD has assured me that review samples will get to us eventually, but launch-day coverage is paramount for us from a business perspective. If you happen to have retail versions of Threadrippers you can be without until August 10 or shortly after, please email me at jkampman@techreport.com. Your anonymity is assured, and your hardware will be treated with the utmost care. Most importantly, you’ll be helping us to produce a rigorous, independent review of some of the hottest products of the year. If that’s something you want to see as much as we do, get in touch.